The Five Star Movement (Italian: Movimento 5 Stelle [moviˈmento
ˈtʃiŋkwe ˈstelle], M5S) is a populist political party in Italy.
The M5S was started by Beppe Grillo, a popular comedian and blogger,
and Gianroberto Casaleggio, a web strategist, on 4 October 2009.[5]
After Casaleggio's death in April 2016, Grillo appointed a Directorate
composed of five leading MPs (Alessandro Di Battista, Luigi Di Maio,
Roberto Fico, Carla Ruocco, Carlo Sibilia),[6] which lasted until the
following October, when Grillo dissolved it and proclaimed himself
"political head".[7] Formally speaking, Grillo is also president of
the association named "Five Star Movement", with his nephew Enrico
Grillo vice president and his accountant Enrico Maria Nadasi
secretary.[1] Davide Casaleggio, Gianroberto's son, has an
increasingly important, albeit unofficial role.[8][9][10]
On 21–22 September 2017 the Vice President of the Chamber of
Deputies, Luigi Di Maio was elected in an on-line primary election,
with 82% of votes, candidate to the premiership and "political head"
of the movement, replacing Grillo as leader of the M5S, but not as
movement's "guarantor".[11][12] In January 2018, Grillo separated his
own blog from the movement; his blog was used in the previous years as
an online newspaper of the M5S and the main propaganda tool.[13] This
event was seen by many as the proof that Grillo was slowly leaving
politics.[14]
The M5S is variously considered populist,[15][16]
anti-establishment,[16][17] environmentalist,[18] alter-globalist[19]
and Eurosceptic.[20] Grillo himself provocatively once referred to it
as "populist".[21] Its members stress that the M5S is not a party but
a "movement" and it may not be included in the traditional
left–right paradigm. The "five stars" are a reference to five key
issues for the party: public water, sustainable transport, sustainable
development, right to Internet access, and environmentalism. The party
also advocates e-democracy, direct democracy,[22] the principle of
"zero-cost politics",[23] degrowth,[24] and nonviolence.[25] In
foreign policy, the M5S has criticized military interventions of the
West in the Greater Middle East (Afghanistan, Iraq,[26] Libya) as well
as any notion of American intervention in Syria.[27]
At the 2013 general election the M5S was the most voted for party
(excluding Italians abroad) for the Chamber of Deputies.[28] However,
it obtained only 109 deputies out of 630, due to the fact that it
refused to join a coalition. If the party had considered as a
coalition, it would have come in third.[29]
In the European Parliament the M5S has been part of the Europe of
Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) group, along with the UK
Independence Party and minor right-wing parties, since the 2014
European Parliament election. In January 2017 M5S members voted in
favor of Grillo's proposal to join the Alliance of Liberals and
Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group, but the party was eventually
refused[30] and, as a result, it has continued to be part of the EFDD
group.
Two party members, Virginia Raggi[31] and Chiara Appendino, were
elected mayors of Rome and Turin, respectively, in 2016.

This article may require cleanup to meet's quality
standards. The specific problem is: English needs to be improved.
Please help improve this article if you can. (September 2013) (Learn
how and when to remove this template message)

Meet-ups[edit]
On 16 July 2005 Beppe Grillo offered supporters of the proposals
submitted to his blog to adopt social networks, such as Meetup, to
communicate and coordinate local meetings. Coordination of activists
through meetups had already been adopted in 2003 by Howard Dean during
the campaign for the primaries of the Democratic Party of the United
States.[32] This is how the first 40 "Friends of Beppe Grillo" meetups
started, with the initial aim, according to the same Grillo, to "have
fun, get together and share ideas and proposals for a better world,
starting from one's own city. And discuss and develop, if you believe,
my posts".[33] Within the meetup one creates thematic working groups
on topics including "technology and innovation",
"press-communication", "ethical consumerism", "currency study", "no
incinerators".[34][35] It is from these experiences that Grillo was
asked to stand for the primaries for the selection of the Prime
Ministerial candidate of the centre-left coalition The Union, that
were scheduled for October 2005.[36]
On three occasions -17 December in Turin, 26 March in Piacenza and 16
to 18 June in Sorrento- the representatives of the "Friends of Beppe
Grillo" meetup held national meetings in the presence of Grillo. In
these circumstances, proposals mostly regarding environmental issues
were discussed, such as the replacement of polluting incinerators with
systems applying mechanical-biological waste treatment.[37]
During the fourth national meeting held in Genoa on 3 February 2007,
Beppe Grillo announced his desire to provide local Meetup activists an
autonomous space within the shows of his tour.
On 14 July 2007, the representatives of some civic lists participating
in local elections the previous spring met in Parma to establish a
national coordination between "associations, movements, organizations
and civic lists practicing, promoting and experimenting direct and
participatory democracy", and share a document of intent that, amongst
its main objectives, included the establishment of proposal and repeal
referendums, the direct election of the Ombudsman, the institution of
participatory budgeting, a "bound" mandate for public administrators
and open primaries.
V-Days[edit]

V-Day in Bologna, in 2007.

On 14 June 2007 Beppe Grillo launched the idea of Vaffanculo Day
(Fuck-off Day), or simply V-Day, a day of public mobilisation for the
collection of signatures required to submit a law of popular
initiative that seeks to introduce preferences in the current
electoral law and to prevent the nomination as Parliamentary
candidates of recipients of criminal convictions or of those who have
already completed two terms in office.[38] The meeting was held in
Bologna.
The choice of the name of the event, V-Day, had a fourfold reference:
the first to the Normandy landings of the Allies in Normandy during
World War II, to symbolise how Italian citizens would "invade" bad
policy; the second to the motion picture "V for Vendetta" (whose
symbol is also referred to in the logo of the movement) which the
movement refers to often with its principles of political renewal; the
third to the interjection "Fuck you" given to bad policy. The fourth
is a reference to the number five as a Roman numeral.
V-Day, which continued the "Clean Parliament" initiative promoted by
Beppe Grillo since 2006, took place in many Italian cities the
following 8 September, the date chosen to evoke the state of confusion
besetting the state, as at 8 September 1943 Badoglio Proclamation. On
that day 336,000 signatures were collected, far exceeding the 50,000
required for the filing of a law of popular initiative. For the
occasion, Michele Serra coined the term "grillismo".[39]
V2-Day was organised for 25 April 2008, a second day of action aimed
at collecting signatures for three referendums. On 29 and 30 September
2007 in Lucca, several members of the meetups and local civic lists,
in the initial wake of the discussions started on the net and in the
wake of the previous meeting of Perugia, define the policies for the
establishment of civic lists. On 10 October 2007 Grillo gives guidance
on how to create the civic lists.[40]
Five Star Civic Lists[edit]
On 3 December 2008, Grillo presented the symbol of the Five Star Civic
Lists for the local elections of 2009. Logo in the "V" of
"citizenship" is a reference to V-Day[41] In Bologna, on 17 February
2009, a gathering of civic lists discussed the future of the movement
and the coming elections; in particular, Sonia Alfano consulted with
the activist base of the movement about her possible candidacy for the
European Parliament as an independent candidate with the Italy of
Values list.
On 8 March 2009, the first national meeting of the Five Star Civic
Lists was held in Florence. Here Beppe Grillo had the Charter of
Florence, bone joint 12-point program of the various local civic lists
in the afternoon, about twenty local groups present their ideas and
experiences. In April Grillo announced a letter of Nobel Prize winner
in economics Joseph Stiglitz in which he declares to look carefully at
the experience of local civic lists promoted through the blog.[42]
On 29 March 2009, Grillo announced that in the upcoming European
elections he would support Luigi de Magistris and Sonia Alfano,
figures close to the movement, as independent candidates in the lists
of Italy of Values, together with the journalist Carlo Vulpio, also
close to the movement[43] On 11 June, De Magistris and Alfano,
candidates in all five constituencies, were elected to the European
Parliament, resulting in the first and second preferences (of 419 000
and 143 000). In the same election, as stated by Beppe Grillo, 23
councilors were elected from the Five Star Civic Lists, especially in
the municipalities of Emilia-Romagna in central Italy.[44]
On 9 September 2009, the launch of the "National Five Star Movement",
inspired by the ideologies of the Charter of Florence', was
announced.[45]
Along with Gianroberto Casaleggio at the Emerald Theatre in Milan on 4
October 2009, Beppe Grillo declared the birth of the Five Star
Movement and presented a programme.[46]
2010–2012 regional and local elections[edit]
During the 2010 regional elections the M5S obtained notable results in
the five regions where it ran a candidate for President: Giovanni
Favia gained 7.0% of the vote in Emilia-Romagna (6.0% for the list, 2
regional councillors elected), Davide Bono 4.1% in Piedmont (3.7%, 2
councillors), David Borrelli 3.2% in Veneto (2.6%, no councillors),
Vito Crimi 3.0% in Lombardy (2.3%, no councillors) and Roberto Fico
1.3% in Campania (1.3%, no councillors).[47]
At the local elections on 15 and 16 May 2011, the Movement occurs in
75 of the 1,177 municipalities in the vote,[48] including 18 of the 23
provincial capitals called to vote. In the first round the Movement
enters its representatives in 28 municipalities (for a total of 34
elected councilors) and often resulting in some important decisive
ballots[49] The best results are in the cities and towns of the
center-north, especially in Emilia-Romagna (where the list gets
between 9 and 12% in Bologna, Rimini and Ravenna) and Piedmont, while
in the south rarely exceeds 2% of the vote.

Beppe Grillo in Trento, during the 2013 electoral campaign.

Regional elections in Molise on 16 and 17 October 2011 had its own
candidate for the presidency and its own list, the list received 2.27%
of the votes and the presidential candidate the 5.60% of the vote, but
no seats[50]
At the 2012 local elections the M5S did well in several cities of the
North, notably in Genoa (14.1%),[51] Verona (9.5%),[52] Parma
(19.9%),[53] Monza (10.2%),[54] and Piacenza (10.0%).[55] In the small
Venetian town of Sarego, the M5S's candidate was elected mayor with
35.2% of the vote (there is no run-off in towns with less than 15,000
inhabitants).[56] In the run-offs the party won the mayorships of
Parma (60.2%),[53] Mira (52.5%),[57] and Comacchio (69.2%).[58]
After the election, the party consistently scored around 15-20%
nationally in opinion polls, frequently ahead of The People of Freedom
and second just to the Democratic Party (see 2013 general election).
At the Sicilian regional elections of 2012 the M5S fielded Giancarlo
Cancelleri as candidate. The campaign kicked off with Grillo's arrival
in Messina on 10 October swimming from the mainland.[59][60] In the
election Cancelleri came third with 18.2% of the vote, while the M5S
was the most voted party with 14.9%, obtaining 15 seats out of 90 in
the Regional Assembly, in a very fragmented political landscape.[61]
The election was however characterized by a low participation as only
47.4% of eligible voters effectively turned out to vote.[62]
2013 general election[edit]
Further information: Italian general election, 2013
On 29 October 2012, Grillo announced the guidelines for standing as
party candidates in the 2013 general election.[63][64] For the first
time in Italy, the candidates were chosen by party members through an
online primary between 3 and 6 December.[65]
On 12 December 2012, Grillo expelled two leading members from the
party: Giovanni Favia, regional councillor of Emilia-Romagna, and
Federica Salsi, municipal councillor in Bologna, due to infringing the
rules of the political party. The former had talked about the lack of
democracy within the party, while the latter had taken part in a
political talk show on Italian television, something that was
discouraged and later forbidden by Grillo.[66]
On 22 February 2013, a large crowd of 800,000 people attended the
final rally of Beppe Grillo before the 2013 general election, in
Piazza San Giovanni in Rome.[67] On 24 and 25 February 2013, M5S
contested all Italian constituencies: Beppe Grillo was listed as head
of the coalition, although he was not an electoral candidate.
The vote for M5S in the Chamber of Deputies reached 25.55% of the vote
in Italy and 9.67% for overseas voters, for a total of 8,784,499
votes, making it the second most voted list after the Democratic Party
(which acquired 25.42% of the votes in Italy and 29.9% abroad, or
8,932,615 votes), obtaining 108 deputies. The M5S vote for the Senate
was 23.79% in Italy and 10% abroad, for a total of 7,375,412 votes,
second only to the PD (which garnered 8,674,893 votes), obtaining 54
Senators. This was a successful election for M5S as the party gained a
higher share of the vote than was expected by any of the opinion
polls. The M5S won 25.6% of the vote for the Chamber of Deputies, more
than any other single party. However, both the Italy Common Good
centre-left coalition, centred on the Democratic Party, and the
centre-right alliance, centred on The People of Freedom, obtained more
votes as coalitions.[68][69] The M5S was the largest party in the
Abruzzo, Marche, Liguria, Sicily and Sardinia.[50]
On 21 March 2013 Luigi Di Maio was elected Vice President of the
Chamber of Deputies with 173 votes. Aged 26, he was the youngest Vice
President of the house to date.[70][71][72]
2014 European election[edit]
Competing its first European election, M5S won second place at the
national level 2014 European Parliament elections, receiving 21.15% of
the vote, returning 17 MEPs.[73]

Beppe Grillo addressed the crowd in Rome, 2014.

In the run-up to the 8th parliamentary term, M5S was lacking a
European affiliation and sought a European parliament group. Initial
negotiations were held with Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD)
co-president Nigel Farage and The Greens–European Free Alliance
(Greens/EFA).[74][75] However, on 4 June 2014, The Greens/EFA rejected
Grillo's attempts to obtain group membership.[76] On 11 June 2014, the
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group rejected
M5S as a potential affiliate in a statement citing M5S's perceived
Euroscepticism and populism.[77] In an online referendum offered to
M5S members on 12 June 2014, the choice of European parliament
affiliation offered were Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD), the
European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), or to become
Non-Inscrits.[78] Party activists voted by 78.1% to join the EFD
group.[79] On 18 June 2014, it was announced that the EFD group had
enough MEPs to continue into the 8th European Parliament term.[80] On
24 June 2014, M5S MEP David Borrelli was chosen as the group's new
co-president and the EFD group name was amended to Europe of Freedom
and Direct Democracy (EFDD) for the upcoming parliament.[81][82] The
EFDD group lost its official group status on 16 October 2014 after the
defection of Latvian MEP Iveta Grigule, until Polish MEP Robert
Iwaszkiewicz joined the group four days later.[83]
On 17 November 2015, after an online poll in which 40,995 people took
part, the movement changed its logo to replace the URL of co-founder
Beppe Grillo (beppegrillo.it) with the official movement URL.[84] The
other option was to remove Grillo's URL entirely, replacing it with
nothing. The grounds of the removal of Grillo's name was "the 5 Star
Movement is mature enough and is preparing to govern Italy, so I
believe it's correct not to associate it to a name anymore".[85]
Casaleggio's death[edit]
The movement's founder and main strategist Gianroberto Casaleggio died
on 12 April 2016 in Milan, at the age of 61, after a long period of
illness, due to brain cancer.[86] After his death, his son Davide was
appointed as the president of "Casaleggio Associati" and took his
father's office as leader and strategist of the M5S.[87]
Ideology[edit]
In the Five Star Movement converge themes derived from ecological and
anti-particracy promoting the direct participation of citizens in the
management of public affairs through forms of digital democracy. The
movement wants to be a "democratic encounter outside of party and
associative ties and without the mediation of directive or
representational organisms, recognising to all users of the Internet
the role of government and direction that is normally attributed to a
few".[88] From the economic point of view, it embraces the theories of
degrowth, supporting the creation of "green jobs" and the rejection of
polluting and expensive "great works", including incinerators and
high-speed rail, aiming to an overall better quality of life and
greater social justice.[89] The Five Star Movement proposes the
adoption of large-scale energy projects, elimination of waste,
sustainable mobility, protection of territory from overbuilding,
teleworking.[90] The movement's political discourse often refers to
the Internet as a solution to many social, economic, and environmental
problems. This approach bears similarities with North-American
cyber-utopianism and the Californian Ideology.[91]
Direct democracy[edit]
The movement bases its principles on direct democracy as an evolution
of representative democracy. The idea is that citizens will no longer
delegate their power to parties, considered old and corrupted
intermediates between the State and themselves, that serve the
interests of lobby groups and financial powers. They will succeed only
by creating a collective intelligence made possible by the
internet.[88]
The Five Star Movement, in order to go in this direction, chose its
Italian and European parliamentary candidates through online voting by
registered members of Beppe Grillo's Blog.[92][93] Through an
application called "Rousseau" reachable on the web,[94] the registered
users of M5S discuss, approve or reject legislative proposals
(submitted then in the Parliament by the M5S group). For example, the
M5S electoral law was shaped through a series of online voting,[95]
like the name of the M5S candidate for President of the Republic.[96]
The choice to support the abolition of a law against immigrants was
taken online by members of the M5S even if the final decision was
against the opinion of Grillo and Casaleggio.[97] The partnership with
the UK Independence Party was also decided by online voting, although
the given options for the choice of European Parliament group for M5S
were limited to: Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD), European
Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and "Stay independent"
(Non-Inscrits). The option of joining the Greens/EFA group was
discussed, but this option was not available at the time of the
voting, due to that group's prior rejection of the M5S.[76][98]
Politics is not a career[edit]
One of the most important rules of M5S is that politics is a temporary
service: no one who has already been elected twice at any level (local
or national) can be a candidate again and has to go back to his or her
original job.[88] Another feature of the movement is the so-called
"zero-cost politics",[23] according to which politics must not become
a career and way to make money. Belonging to the Movement requires the
self-reduction of salaries of the citizens elected.[99][100] The
movement also rejects campaign contributions. In the regional
elections in Sicily in 2012, the Sicilian wing of the M5S also decided
to allocate the money saved by the reduction of the salaries of their
elected in a fund for micro-credit to help small and medium
enterprises.[101] In the general elections of 2013 the Five Star
Movement claimed to have rejected over €42 million of public
electoral refunds,[102] supporting its expenses for the campaign with
crowdfunding through the blog.[103][104]
No criminal records[edit]
In order to be Five Star Movement candidates, citizens must be without
any criminal records.[88] The party also supports initiatives to ban
politicians with criminal records from being elected. Among the
greater political battles of M5S is the ethical commitment to a
greater simplicity and transparency to counter the practice of holding
two or more positions,[105][106] which show the intricate conflicts of
interest between any organization, subsequently strengthened by public
register[107] to avoid centralizations that are nepotistic and
clientelistic.[108] The no-criminal-record rule currently prevents the
Five Star Movement's founder, Beppe Grillo, from running for office,
in view of an old conviction for manslaughter. The court found Grillo
guilty because he was the driver in a car crash.
Same-sex marriage[edit]
The leader of the movement, Grillo, on 15 July 2012 publicly expressed
his support for same-sex marriage[109] while the subject was discussed
in the National Assembly.[110] In offering his support to marriage
between homosexual citizens Grillo broke his silence on the subject,
because observers speculated about him opposing same-sex
marriage.[111]
On 28 October 2014, an online referendum took place among the
activists of the Five Star Movement on the recognition of same-sex
civil partnerships: 21,360 voted yes and 3,908 voted no.[112] In
February 2016, the M5S decided not to officially back the proposal of
recognition of stepchild adoption for same sex civil partnerships,
refusing to take an official stand and gave its parliamentarians
freedom of vote on the matter.[113]
No alliances[edit]
Grillo's campaign has an unwillingness to form alliances, as a result
of his own refusal to be associated or characterized as any of the
older political families including the centre-left and centre-right.
As the government itself is made up of both centre-left and
centre-right parties, the 5 Star Movement has had difficulties coming
to agreement with any of the other parties. Despite the different
views within the party, the issues on which the movement agrees keep
the party intact through advocating the main five principles of the 5
Star Movement.[114]
A Tecné poll in the aftermath of the Italian general election, 2018
suggested that 56% of 5 Star Movement voters preferred a government
coalition between M5S and Lega Nord. A coalition between the 5 Star
Movement and the centre-right as a whole was preferred by only 4%. 22%
preferred a coalition between the 5 Star Movement, the centre-left
Democratic Party and the hard-left LeU. A technocratic government was
only supported by 1% of the Movement's voters.[115]
Immigration[edit]
The Five Star Movement's position on immigration has been ambiguous,
but Grillo wrote on his blog on 23 December 2016 that all undocumented
immigrants should be expelled from Italy, that Schengen should be
temporarily suspended in the event of a terrorist attack until the
threat has been removed and that there should be revision of the
Dublin Regulation.[116][117] On 21 April 2017, Grillo published a
piece questioning the role that NGOs operating rescue ships off Libya
are playing in the migrant crisis, asking where are they getting their
money and strongly suggesting they may be aiding traffickers.[118] On
5 August 2017, Luigi Di Maio, who will lead the Five Star movement in
the 2018 election, called for "an immediate stop to the sea-taxi
service" bringing migrants to Europe.[119]
European integration[edit]
About the politics of the European Union and the Euro, the Five Star
movement has often been highly critical, but like on other issues, its
position is ambiguous. On 12 June 2014, the M5S having been rejected
by both the Greens/EFA,[120] and the ALDE[121] European Parliament
groups, offered its activists a limited-choice online referendum to
choose a group for the party, in which 78% of participating activists
voted for the Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy
(EFDD).[122][79]
On January 2017, the Five Star Movement tried to change its group
inside the European Parliament, moving from the EFDD to the ALDE.
Despite an initial agreement, ALDE leader Guy Verhofstadt refused the
M5S' adhesion to the group, due to insufficient guarantees to come to
a common position on European integration.[123] The attempted move
caused a chilling of relations with EFDD leader Nigel Farage, who
wasn't informed about the M5S' agreement with the ALDE.[124] Beppe
Grillo was highly critical of the rejection and blamed "the
establishment" for preventing them joining the ALDE.[125] On 9
January, the Radio Radicale news correspondent David Carretta
published documents about fiscal and political benefits which would
have accrued to the M5S for its adhesion to ALDE on Twitter.[126]
In December 2017, the M5S electoral leader, Luigi Di Maio stated that
he supported a referendum for Italy to leave the Eurozone and would
vote to leave.[127] However, in January 2018 he rejected his previous
position,[128] refusing the idea of a referendum on the Euro, which
was previously strongly supported by the movement.[129] In February
2018, Di Maio also stated that "European Union is the Five Star
Movement's home".[130]
Criticism[edit]

This section has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss
these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these
template messages)

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Relevant discussion may be
found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until
conditions to do so are met. (May 2015) (Learn how and when to remove
this template message)

This article's Criticism or Controversy section may compromise the
article's neutral point of view of the subject. Please integrate the
section's contents into the article as a whole, or rewrite the
material. (March 2013)

(Learn how and when to remove this template message)

During the 2010 Italian elections, some parties highlighted a
contradiction between the voluntary collective action in the struggles
of civil society and openness in political
representation[131][132][133] Also in 2010, there were tensions
between the movement and Italy of Values.[134]

Beppe Grillo (on the right) with Giovanni Favia (on the left), who was
expelled from the movement in 2011.

In March 2012 the city councillor in Rimini, Valentino Tavolazzi
advocated a national meeting on behalf of the movement,[135][136]
which gathered about 150 participants. At the meeting there was both
praise and criticism from the participants including from the few
politicians who were present at the convention.[137] The meeting took
a harsh stance on the "conditions of Regulation M5S" because it was
discovered to be in conflict with the statutes of its Civic Party of
origin "Project for Ferrara". In response they lost the use of the
logo[138][139] and were banned from taking any position on behalf of
M5S, which was portrayed as a controversial move regarding internal
democracy.[140][141][142]
Since 2007 Grillo has criticized the cost of politics by supporting
the reduction of payment for deputies and senators.[143] Based on this
policy, the benefits received by members of parliament would not
exceed €5,000 gross per month, with any surplus returned to the
State with solidarity allowance (also called end-term). According to
the regional director of the Five Star Movement Giovanni Favia, the
deduction of €5,000 gross salary of parliamentarians is, however,
contrary to the principles of the movement, as it would result in a
reduction of only €2,500 net. In an interview which was published in
several newspapers in November 2012, Favia estimated at €11,000 per
month the fees prescribed for a member of M5S, even though it does not
explain how it got to deduct that amount because it necessarily
includes reimbursements and per diem is not flat, as costs and
expenses which vary from member to member.[144]
Following the expulsion of Giovanni Favia and Federica Salsi for
expressing views about the lack of internal democracy, the party has
expelled several members for criticisms.[145][146] The expulsions were
made unilaterally by Beppe Grillo and, as per regulation, took place
without prior consultation with members of the
movement.[147][148][149]
Another criticism frequently made by the same movement activists and
former activists, such as Federico Pistono, social entrepreneur and
author of Robots Will Steal Your Job, But That's OK: How to Survive
the Economic Collapse and Be Happy and the former member,[150] is
about the absence of any form of effective participation on the
web.[151] There is a tool for collective writing of the program and
the proposed laws, but the forum is considered inadequate for the
purpose.[152][153] Through his blog, in September 2012, Grillo said
that a portal to participate via the web was already under
construction.[154] The triggering was scheduled for the end of the
year 2012, but at the time of the elections of February 2013 it was
not yet realized.
On 28 January 2014 Giorgio Sorial, a deputy of the M5S, accused
President Giorgio Napolitano of being a hangman who repressed
opponents.[155] [156] Prime Minister Enrico Letta immediately defended
President Napolitano, charging the M5S with being extremists.[157] The
following day Angelo Tofalo, another deputy of the movement, ended his
speech at the Chamber of Deputies by shouting Boia Chi Molla! (hangman
who gives up!) a famous motto used during the Fascist era.[158][159]
Often the movement's members, especially its leader Beppe Grillo, have
been accused of being too vulgar and (verbally) violent.[160] [161]
After a Five Star Movement demonstration inside the Chamber of
Deputies against a law approved by the government,[162][163] caused a
brawl between the M5S, the centrist Civic Choice, the right-wing
Brothers of Italy and the centre-left Democratic Party.[164] Following
insults to the President of the Chamber of Deputies Laura
Boldrini,[165] on 31 January 2014 Corrado Augias, a famous Italian
journalist, stated that the violence used by the M5S reminded him of
fascism.[166] The following day a militant activist of the Five Star
Movement burned some books of Augias and uploaded the photos to his
Facebook profile, because according to him "Augias offended the
movement".[167] This episode was readily taken up by major national
newspapers and heavily criticized by public opinion, due to some
similarities with Nazi book burnings.[168] Beppe Grillo criticized the
action, saying that the person who uploaded the photos didn't
represent the Movement.[169]
On March 4, 2018, Piera Aiello was elected MP for the Chamber of
Deputies within the Five Star Movement, she had won 51 per cent of the
majority vote in her constituency in Sicily despite being unable to
publicly campaign and meet voters.[170] Aiello's campaign mainly
consisted of television interviews and she kept her identity hidden
throughout the television appearances. One Italian newspaper claimed
"it was the culmination of a surreal election campaign". Aiello, who
had been living under police protection since 1991, is the widow of a
gunned-down Sicilian Mafia member.[171]
Some of the movement's activists have also been criticized due to
their propaganda against vaccinations, which according to them are
useless and cause autism.[172]
Electoral results[edit]
Italian Parliament[edit]

More Europe (Italian Radicals
Democratic Centre)
Us with Italy (Direction Italy
Civic Choice
Popular Construction
Movement for the Autonomies)
Power to the People (Communist Refoundation Party
Italian Communist Party)
CasaPound Italy
The People of Family
Popular Civic List (Popular Alternative
Italy of Values
Solidary Democracy)
Union of the Centre
Italian Liberal Party
Italian Socialist Party
Federation of the Greens
Energies for Italy